caught in the act...

So it was at the end of yet another busy day at mr moo's the staff were caught in the act of being daft in a public place by the boss's camera. Snapped.

It's quite amazing that the little devils had ANY energy left by 5 o'clock, but from somewhere deep in the reserves of extra ice cream & chocolate cake scraps they managed to find their after burners!

Hubby announced first thing that today would be fairly quiet because everyone had gone home so it might be an idea to reduce staff levels for the day. WRONG. It's been very. very, very busy all day. Loads of cappuccinos, mega moo's, cowpats, baguettes & panini. Not quiet, very busy. Glad l took no notice of his advice [as usual] especially as it hasn't rained. Not one drop. Nothing. The sky has been grey but as usual not one drop of precipitation. The drought continues.


From today's pictures, you will have observed that l have been a little snap happy whilst supposed to be doing work. I have noticed that the little darlings are often snapping away with their 'phones, the pictures later appearing on the teenage site myspace. Well, revenge is sweet say l. This one looking decidedly cross is 'mini moo' or Harry. Today he has been making sorbets; orange, lemon & mandarin which is wonderfully delicious!

This morning l discovered that l had been 'tagged'. Apparently this is not the play ground game but something to do with blogging & recommending your favourite blog sites so here's my Fab 6:-

Un Peu Loufoque
Milkmaid
lixtroll
woozle1967
kityB
pondside

hope you all enjoy!

sweaty feet

Isn't it a truly wonderful sensation when you peel off your shoes exposing hot sweaty feet & wriggle sock clad toes in the air. Arghhhh. Don't worry, no ones about to complain, Harry's nipped round to friends to attempt the big tent putting up ceremony before Friday's camping trip & hubby's feeding the calves. Peace at last.

l really must be in the wrong job, l think in my next life l would like to be a deck chair attendant. Yep, you've guessed it... we've been heaving again. It was non stop from 2pm until closing. People diving to tables & chairs before they were even cleared & wiped. At one point l think there was about 15 orders for coffee & cakes when the fan gremlin blew the orders off their pegs just for a bit of extra fun.

Here we have 2 types of customers, the very nice, smiley ones & the huffers & puffers. The huffers & puffers are a rarity but like all good twitchers you can see them without the aid of binoculars. They tend to stand not exactly in the que, stare very hard at anyone in uniform then start huffing & puffing & looking exasperated as though they were the only ones waiting for service. We had such a species in today. It began huffing quite a long way out, then began puffing when told that the lady at the till would take the order, still not satisfied it began to chunter. Bad sign this. This species of animal can become very dangerous when even slightly roused. G worked well under pressure, took the order but, oh no......it had to ....oh no.....wait until the order was made up which brought about even more huffing, puffing & chuntering. I think that it is about to become 'open season' for H.P.C.s so we'll be aiming to take a few pot shots as they pass by.

Talking about pot shots, we were rudely woken at 04.30 this morning by a violent hammering on the front door. Remember we don't live in the village, but along a country road. Right, there was a very strange man on the front door step asking that we ring the police because he was lost & it wouldn't cost us anything??? Hubby being a nice sort of chap duly did as asked. The man didn't wait, he just walked away, and did a policeman come?..........Nope. Not a siren, flashing light or an 'evening all', just the birds commencing the dawn corrus.

the sun has at last arrived

Well, l ask you & isn't it about time too, the sun has finally, & late in the afternoon, condescended to show itself to the waiting world on the east coast. The last time l felt the sun's rays would have been last Saturday morning in Far Sawrey, since then nothing, just a world of continual grey mankyness.

Isn't it amazing how a little bit of sunshine cheers everyone up. The birds seem to sing that extra bit louder, the grass takes on a bright green appearance,people walk with a lighter step. l know the sun didn't come out till gone 4 today, but it has been trying hard to make up for the past week of cloud. The sky is a misty blue & the temperature feels to have risen, not by a lot, but a definite improvement on past days.

The heifers have now been moved to the hill top field & are mooching about looking for trouble. So far they haven't broken through the electric fence. As we walked down to the beach before tea, they ghosted us down the fence side waiting for an excuse to bounce about doing handstands. Gordon & Lucy-Piglet stayed this side of the fence knowing full well that they might just get chased if they strayed too far into heifer territory.

The ice cream parlour took off with a slowish start but by mid afternoon l had to be dragged away from the Beeb's Badmin[g]ton coverage to lend a hand. Never got a chance to sneak back in to watch anymore.

Before moving north, Badders was an annual spectator event. Living not far from the competition we used to charge down back lanes in an event to miss the crowds, armed with picnics, wine & sausages in thermos flasks. Those days Badders was held in April & normally would be fairly chilly & wet, but with the event being set latter in May, the prospect of too hard a ground raises its ugly head. l remember back in 1976, the year of the hot dry summer, the Dauntsey Park horse trials held in August, had the X-country course rotivated to improve the going, but, then it rained. The result was a quagmire & a real nightmare to ride. It's amazing how big both Badminton & Burgley now are. When l was a wee youngster the spectators were all horsey folk who were interested in the horses & competition now it would appear that the big SHOPPING experience is the major draw, 'Dahling, l can't possibly walk all that way when l can watch it on the screen in comfort'. l don't bother to go anymore. l really can't be bothered with all this pseudo horseyness / social poncing about by people who don't know the difference between a fetlock & a spavin.

wonderful home grown food ....

If anyone else asks me 'did l see that programme on C4 last night?' l will scream. Every other person has asked me what did l think to the content, did l agree with it, was life in the depths of rural England as bad as that. Well, in here, all us lot who have a purple twinge about the gills, who like to think that we have an exclusive insight to all things country, after all we were all once avid CL readers, know the real story when we see it. Life here in the agricultural sector is very tough at present, no getting away from the fact. Dressing up in flowery frocks, photos of amazing homes & gardens et al doesn't represent the true, dirty, nitty gritty of rural life faced by those guardians of the land of which l & my family are one.


[Climb up carefully onto soap box]

'hey you at the back with the aldi bag NO heckling PLEASE'


Hubby gets annoyed with me when l start to rant about the rapid decline of small family farms, the incredible amount of bureaucracy foisted upon us by Europe. the total apathy of the NFU & the reality that the majority of people do not care a monkeys about how or where their food is produced, so long as it is convenient & cheap. Those who care or who have a higher disposable income will & do support farmers markets & farm shops, they can be counted upon to vote with their feet as well as their taste buds!


l have kept my opinions toned down, you'll be please to note, however there are some real success stories out there in Farming Land. As you may, or may not, have noticed the link to deliciously yorkshire. Here you can find farmers who have changed tack to produced quality, superbly flavoured, totally wholesome products, whether it be beer, jams, bread, butchery or in our case ice cream. Chefs & food programmes are discovering the wealth of fantastic foods that are available now through out the length & breadth of this country. Farmers have a passion for the land but they also can show they have this passion for food & this enthusiasm is infectious.

Not all farmers are able to move their businesses on in this way, but for those that that follow this route it is a truly exciting time. At country shows, areas are dedicated to local food exhibitions , the Great Yorkshire Show for example, has a large hall crammed pack full of wonderful Yorkshire produce, plus a cookery demonstration area showing the public how to prepare & cook these fabulous foods. Towns & city centres have food markets & festivals, York has several. [not so sure about the French market]. So what l'm saying is get out there this summer, talk to us food producers, find out what is happening in the areas of food production & agriculture, because we really do need to listen to what you the consumer wants from us & if possible we will attempt to grow / make / develop this for you to savour & enjoy!

OK, deep breath.

Step down off soap box.

Blast l've put my foot through the top..........damn & blast....do you have a band aid?

blue skies, nothing but blue skies from now on.......

Well the sun has not come out at all today, in fact it didn't come out yesterday either or the day before. OK, where is it? What's happened to this global warming business then eh? Tonight's doggy walk was what you could call chilly. The sea was an even deeper grey than the sky with the whole beach seeming to be in a total monochrome phase. everything grey, light grey, dark grey plus all those greys in between. Ugh, l even had my woolly hat & gloves on to protect my ears from dropping off & my fingers from turning black with frost bite. Come on summer, the may blossom is out the swallows are here so bring on the sun!

Living in the countryside l think you become more aware of changing seasons than urban dwellers. You know when the swallows are due back & watch the heavens in anticipation, the same with the may. This year things are out of sync in a fairly big way. The normal harmony that greats you as you walk doesn't feel right? Firstly, we have the may blossom. It is in flower now, 3 weeks early in this part of the world, but what is stranger still is that there is no scent to the flowers at the moment. Weird. Secondly the birds have nested early & as you walk past nesting boxes or through the barns you can hear all the twittering going on by the chicks clamouring for food - feed me mum now! There are other things that draws your eye. the barley is shot [the ears are emerging], grass too is starting to flower & the land itself, well it's dry, dusty & has deep fissures on peaty soil. Weird.....

This afternoon l have had the great pleasure of dealing with a racist b###. Poor Masoud seems to have had a slight problem. Basically & being aware that any Tom, Dick or Harry can read this, he was tucked up good a proper as they say & my intervention to help clarify the situation only resulted in a very silly little man on the end of the phone ranting and raving about foreigners. Well l suppose you live & learn. As l said to Masoud, we learn that people are not all as they seem from an early age when your best friends drops you in at school and you take the rap. But it really wasn't me Miss Brown it was HER!

Because l'm a sunshiny person, l have attached a picture from my January holiday. The sun was shining the sea was blue & it was WARM ney it was positively HOT. It was the sea that was warm, like bath water & the fishes brightly flashes darting about, oh my; shorts, bathers & no shoes fantastic! Hey guys take me back ...........................

A nothing sort of day really..........

Today l have had a nothing much day. A day that has seen me sat in front of the PC messing around with designs for information boards for kids. The sort of thing that can be slung up anywhere showing today's youth the process from cow to cone, pictorially, not to many words. So for inspiration l have been trawling the net looking for inspiration. The Ben & Jerry site showing the process from start to finish was quite neat, but after watching the video thingee several times l think l've pulled in a few ideas on format. Life certainly isn't dull always new inspiration & ideas. When we first started of with the ice cream venture, l likened my brain to that of a hedgehog's spines, thoughts shooting off every which way. Our first few years l was sort of hyper, if l could have bottle the adrenaline l need never have worked again, might have been bored but, well that's another story now isn't it.

Delivery men have been coming all day today, bringing Harry's bits & pieces for his camping trip. Camping kitchen, chairs, crockery, saucepans, no tent yet though..... Ah, YFC AGM. Harry's club had not organised anything...... hard to believe, apparently only the chairman has gone & he gave no one else the opportunity to go. The chairman isn't up to much, so Harry says.
Lets hope the County Rally goes better.

Last night's visit by the B. YFC was a bit of a nightmare. I can easily cope with most kids, well these lot were a nightmare. Firstly there were no club leaders or older members to keep the younger ones in control, secondly the vice chairman was very shy & not forth coming at all. Normally l do a brief intro about us & why we diversified the business, this time, huh, they were so busy chatting that before l could even start l announce, much to Harry's embarrassment, that l had no intention of entering a talking competition with anyone. That was basically it, they obviously were just here for a 'good time' so, l left Harry to show them round which even he found hard as all these young girls kept fawning over him, not that he minded of course, and giggling. One boy even had silver ballet pumps on. These are Young Farmers we are talking about! Well, let us just say l was glad when they went!

We have booked to take part in the DelicouslyYorkshire stand at this years Game Fair at Harewood House near Leeds. All the forms arrived today concerning risk assessment, electrics & such like, l haven't filled them in being otherwise artistically preoccupied but it's something l'll have to scrutinise tomorrow. That'll be fun now wont it? It's mind blowing all the forms & disclaimers you have to fill in before attending fairs & shows, l'm surprised we bother really, but you do get free tickets & can usually sneak in to watch any cookery demonstrations which is pretty good! l have seen James Martin a few times & he is good despite doing weird things with spun sugar & even more amazingly not burning himself. If you do get the chance to watch his cookery demos take it, he is one of the more nicer celebrity chefs.

Holiday makers are starting to appear in readiness for this weekend's bank holiday. Caravaners are still ringing hoping for a vacancy, sorry guys, we've been fully booked for months now. Don't know how busy we actually going to be, certainly Easter was HEAVING but that was Easter, & it'll depend on the weather, we are not exactly warm over on the east coast at the moment, chilly in fact.

Whilst doing my research bit, see earlier paragraph, one of the comments on the B & J page was the fact that they could not deliver virtual ice cream yet, well, l did grin because looking at your comments about our ice cream & sending it out to bloggers via envelope, fax or carrier pigeon got me thinking to how we tried to do just that, well, um, in a more practical manner last year. What we tried to do was pack a polystyrene box with ice cream tubs & dry ice & see how long a window we had to get the stuff delivered before it melted. Now that was a real laugh, everyone who supplied the component parts were really excited by the prospect, anyone would have though t that we were attempting a lunar landing or something. Did it work? Well, yes it did but, & there always is a but isn't there, it was a rather expensive ice cream at the end of the day & a service that was not really economically viable.

On a more sombre note, thanks for the kind & thoughtful comments about poor old Pip, who you'll be pleased to note now resides under a newly planted apple tree, Cox's Orange Pippin.

Dogs, kleenex & sea fret

Last night the phone rang at about 9'ish. I knew that, even before l picked up the phone, it was going to be an emotional, heart breaking call. At the other end of the line was a close friend & also our manger here. You see we are 'dog buddies', this in layman's terms means that whenever one of us has an elderly or sick dog that needs to escape from this world to the next, we are there for each other.

It was my turn 2 years ago when Sam, at the grand old age of 15 was ready to move on. She was there for me as we sat in the dog kennel keeping the elderly dog company whilst waiting for the vet, using up vast amounts of Kleenex & trying to keep jolly by remembering Sam's rabbit jaunts that lasted all day. Last night it was her turn. Pip, who at the grand old age of 16, had finally succumbed to arthritis and could no longer stand was in need of the Dog Buddies. Pip had always been an active collie, who did a grand job of herding the sheep & pigs, but had become stiffer & less mobile over the last few weeks, now she was lying quietly waiting....

It's never nice to loose a pet. At least they can die with dignity surrounded by the 'family', a luxury that few humans can hope for. Sam now sits in a wooden box on the kitchen dresser & will be joined in turn when their time comes by our current batch of labs. I had a lady ring the other night. She & her husband were due to come with their caravan this weekend. The breast cancer that had made her ill had now progressed to the secondary stage, her bones. Christmas this is morbid. Anyway, l cheered her up by telling her that we could postpone her visit until she felt a bit better once the treatment which she was to start on Thursday was complete.

I'm sorry, but l didn't mean to be so maudlin, [is that the word?], normally I am a rather bouncy happy laughee sort of person who can never take anything seriously for a moment. Life is a big game into which we can either have a riotous time or weep in the corner. I riot.

Poor hubby is being teased this week. He has had no sympathy whatsoever about the trek up steep paths. Perhaps he should just keep quite on that one. Do you know, when we went to see REM in Hull, he had to leave early because It was toooo loud. l ask you, what is the matter with these Yorkshire men?

Tonight l have another local YFC coming for a talk n walk, except the sea fret has rolled in & you can't see a thing out there. As Harry is in tonight l think l'll get the little darling to do the talk. Bound to be women in the group so he'll be fine. Talking about Harry, he was extremely cross that we went away last week without him. he is 18! Anyway Harry's off camping weekend after next. He's bought himself a tent plus camping gear from ebay so ...we'll wait & see how he gets on with out mother!

Oh tonight's picture is an 'enhanced' one.. [sounds a bit plastic] l have been messing about trying to design a back drop for shows? Well, l found a free edit picture thingy & this is the result. It should look fine with text & pictures set on top.